Milet Andrejevic
Encyclopedia
Milet Andrejevic was a Yugoslav
born American painter in the realist tradition. A classically trained artist who went through a series of different artistic periods, including post-Impressionism
, Expressionism
, and Pop Art
, Andrejevic was best known for his allegorical landscapes set in New York City
's Central Park
.
, Yugoslavia, Andrejevic studied painting at the Belgrade
Academy of Fine Arts. His brother Krsta Andrejevic also become a well-known painter in the former Yugoslavia. As a teen he lived through the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia and was eventually conscripted into Tito
's army at the end of World War II
.
Andrejevic left his native Yugoslavia in 1952 to study art in Paris
and didn't return to Yugoslavia for some twenty years. He married the former Helen Bardeen in Paris in 1956 and came with her to live in New York City in 1958.
then run by Richard Bellamy. In the 1960s he adopted a more realist style that featured allegories of Greek myths set in Central Park. He received positive reviews from then New York Times art critic Hilton Kramer
who called Andrejevic, "clearly one of the most gifted painters of the contemporary Realist school." Kramer went on to write that, "He brings to his art an unusual sense of refinement - an eye calmly and exquisitely attuned to pictorial nuance. His best pictures achieve a purity of tone and a gravity of feeling unusual in the Realist painting of any period and very different, certainly, from some of the more clamorous Realist styles of our own day."
Andrejevic showed his work at the Robert Schoelkopf gallery and is the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
in Washington D.C. and the Whitney Museum of American Art
in New York City.
He died of lung cancer
in 1989 and is survived by his wife, Helen, and a son.
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
born American painter in the realist tradition. A classically trained artist who went through a series of different artistic periods, including post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet. Fry used the term when he organized the 1910 exhibition Manet and Post-Impressionism...
, Expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, and Pop Art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
, Andrejevic was best known for his allegorical landscapes set in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
.
Early life
Born Mileta Andrejevic in ZagrebZagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Yugoslavia, Andrejevic studied painting at the Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
Academy of Fine Arts. His brother Krsta Andrejevic also become a well-known painter in the former Yugoslavia. As a teen he lived through the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia and was eventually conscripted into Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's army at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Andrejevic left his native Yugoslavia in 1952 to study art in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and didn't return to Yugoslavia for some twenty years. He married the former Helen Bardeen in Paris in 1956 and came with her to live in New York City in 1958.
Critical success
Andrejevic's work turned toward Pop Art during the late 1950s and he exhibited in the Green GalleryGreen Gallery
The Green Gallery was an art gallery that operated between 1960 and 1965 and was located at 15 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York, United States. The director of the gallery was Richard Bellamy , and it was one of the first uptown galleries to show the work of the downtown New York avant-garde...
then run by Richard Bellamy. In the 1960s he adopted a more realist style that featured allegories of Greek myths set in Central Park. He received positive reviews from then New York Times art critic Hilton Kramer
Hilton Kramer
Hilton Kramer is a U.S. art critic and cultural commentator.Kramer was educated at Syracuse University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Indiana University and the New School for Social Research. He worked as the editor of Arts Magazine, art critic for The Nation, and from 1965 to 1982,...
who called Andrejevic, "clearly one of the most gifted painters of the contemporary Realist school." Kramer went on to write that, "He brings to his art an unusual sense of refinement - an eye calmly and exquisitely attuned to pictorial nuance. His best pictures achieve a purity of tone and a gravity of feeling unusual in the Realist painting of any period and very different, certainly, from some of the more clamorous Realist styles of our own day."
Andrejevic showed his work at the Robert Schoelkopf gallery and is the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
in Washington D.C. and the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
in New York City.
He died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in 1989 and is survived by his wife, Helen, and a son.
External links
- Art View; ANDREJEVIC- [AN ALLEGORICAL REALIST]http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE4D8173BF932A25752C0A967948260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/A/Art; by Hilton Kramer, New York Times, January 11, 1981.